The Three Kings
by Stylin' Breeze
Summary: Two vigilante rounin, Hinata Shouyou and Nishinoya Yuu, share something in common: the desire to catch a samurai called the Little Giant. That quest brings them into conflict with the three preternatural crime lords of Karasuno Town. (Formerly "The Crow.")
1. Chapter 1

**I've had this samurai AU bouncing around my head for over a year. Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Nishinoya Yuu cracked his neck, ignoring the risk the slight noise could give away his position in the bushes. After all, he didn't think his targets were anywhere near yet. The human smuggler Iwaizumi Hajime and his convoy of three carts should have passed by 15 minutes ago. Nishinoya paid a mole in Iwaizumi's band for the information, never mind this was a frequent route for traffickers.

He froze as a high-pitched screech wailed in the distance. Somebody was huffing down the dirt road, a child perhaps. In his peripherals from the bushes alongside the path, a brunet child, about eight-years-old, came into view and tripped. His elbows grazed, the boy sniffed and then whined in the middle of the trail. A trap perhaps? But something was terribly wrong. Remaining in the brush parallel to the road, Nishinoya bolted in the direction whence the child came.

A quarter-mile down the trail, he found his answer. Two of the carts in Iwaizumi's convoy lay abandoned, one with a broken axle. A handful of traumatized children staggered around, morose, laconic. The body of one of Iwaizumi's henchmen lay on the ground with a mortal stab wound.

Somebody had beaten Nishinoya to the punch. Whoever had done it, though, was nowhere to be found, and neither was Iwaizumi or the third cart. Noya wanted to help the children, but he feared what the calamity meant and sprinted farther down the road.

He trekked through the forest until he reached a cave, probably one of Iwaizumi's hideouts. The missing third cart sat at its entrance. Deep inside, Noya could hear aggravated grumblings.

Iwaizumi was here. Finally after five months of painstaking detective work, Noya had tracked down one of the largest bounties in the region. But facing such an accomplished criminal in his own lair was a danger. Then, he heard the pained gasps of a teenager in the cave as well.

In one cavernous space illuminated by a single candle on a table, Iwaizumi himself flung a whip at a short boy chained to the wall. The orange-haired lad looked to be in his late teens and did a remarkable job keeping his cries soft at the vicious impact. One of Iwaizumi's associates scoured parchments beside the candle, trying to figure out how to salvage their situation.

"Try that again, Crow!" Iwaizumi barked hoarsely at his prisoner.

 _Crow?_ Noya thought. "Crow" was the nickname of a rounin notorious for busting child trafficking rings. Rumors had it he was young, small, and was unmatched with the sword. The description resembled what people used to say of the infamous kidnapper called the Little Giant.

If this boy was the Crow, then no doubt he had saved the children, and Nishinoya wouldn't abandon him to his fate.

"Iwaizumi-san, it'll be three days before we can get more carts here," the lackey Kindaichi Yuutarou advised.

"Then we'll kill this bird and round up the brats ourselves," griped Iwaizumi with another crack of the whip. Kindaichi scoffed, not thrilled with the prospect of corralling whiny preteens. Alas, he achingly pushed himself up from his stool and hoisted the strap of his katana over his shoulder. It was too late by the time he noticed a figure whishing from the darkness.

Iwaizumi gasped as his affiliate fell beneath the blade of a pint-sized adult. There was no doubt who this new interloper was. He was shorter than even the current prisoner with wild black hair save for a golden tuft on the front. Hajime chuckled. He didn't realize he had been on the radar of the bounty hunting vigilante, Nishinoya Yuu. The dangling prisoner, his wrists chafing as his arms hung from the cold cuffs, glanced over his shoulder at the swordsman with a red-stained blade that had cut down Kindaichi. Noya glare was firmly affixed on the criminal.

"So both you and the Crow are midgets," scoffed Iwaizumi as he unsheathed his katana. "Some of my clients would find someone your size delightful," he chuckled.

Iwaizumi charged at Noya who dodged slickly, twirling around behind his foe. Iwaizumi instinctively spun to block an expected strike, only to find Noya gone.

"Crow!" Noya yelled as he tossed a key pickpocketed from Kindaichi's corpse. The teen caught it in his teeth and strained it towards one of the restraints.

"Why, you!" roared Iwaizumi who went in for another strike. Nishinoya flipped onto the table, but it wobbled and toppled underneath him. Using it as a springboard, Noya catapulted towards Iwaizumi with sword raised for a downward aerial slash. The candle illuminating the space fell snuffed out when it hit the ground, plunging the chamber into darkness before Iwaizumi and Nishinoya's slashes hit their mark.

Moments later, Iwaizumi Hajime relit the candle and set it on the rocky floor. He leaned forward, blood dripping from his chest where Nishinoya's slash had got him. Propped against a wall, Noya was comforting a gash in his rib inflicted by his foe at the same time.

"Too bad, Nishinoya-san," Iwaizumi said as he raised his sword for a final strike. "Mine is the last bounty you chase."

Suddenly, before Nishinoya's eyes, another blade burst through the existing gash in Iwaizumi's torso. Paralyzed in shock, Iwaizumi stumbled when the sword was retracted through his spine. The great criminal seized and collapsed facedown, his life extinguished. Behind him stood the towering, panting figure of the Crow.

Nishinoya gazed with awe at the young fighter who'd snuck up on Iwaizumi and felled the accomplished samurai. The teen proceeded to search a rucksack for some medical supplies to give to Noya. Hobbled away from the wall, his forearm pressed to his chest, Nishinoya held part of his gray kimono sleeve in his teeth and ripped a strap. He began to bandage himself much to the Crow's intrigue.

"You're good at that," said the Crow, taking note of his first aid skills. Noya now got a look at the boy in his distinct all-black kimono and shimmering orange hair. He estimated the boy was about 19.

"Thanks," Noya replied. "For your help."

"Same," answered the Crow. "I'm going to round up the children to get them home, so, um, if you don't need anything, I guess I'll see you later."

Nishinoya was surprised. Did the Crow always go out of his way to reunite rescued children with their families? Not knowing where any of the kids came from, such a task must take months. But the boy's focused gaze suggested he wasn't lying as he prepared to embark out of the room.

"Wait," called Noya. The Crow stopped. "Let me help. I can make it easier for you," he continued. "We've never met, but I used to be in the police. I have a good friend nearby who can help locate the families. Name's Nishinoya Yuu."

"Noya?" the Crow answered, his informality striking Nishinoya oddly. "All right." Notably he didn't volunteer his name, but Nishinoya had a detective-level hunch based on the person's hair color and sword style.

"You're from the Hinata clan, aren't you?" he guessed. The famous samurai family was wiped out in a tragic incident several months ago. However, there was no mistaking the lineage's orange hair.

"Shouyou," the Crow answered. "Please call me, Shouyou. And you said you wanted to help?" Hinata Shouyou redirected.

"Huh? Yeah," Noya said after finishing tying his bandage. They could get some medicine in town too.

And off the pair went to locate all of the children in the area.

* * *

 **I wrote this as the first chapter of a longer fic, but I am posting it as a one-shot to gauge interest and stay active during my hiatus. Any responses are appreciated, and if you want to see more, let me know!**

 **~Breeze**


	2. Chapter 2

**I've decided to post the introductory chapter for what would be the premise of a longer fic, to give a better idea of where I plan to take this idea. Accordingly, I've also changed the title from "The Crow" to what I always intended it to be but couldn't call it if I was going to leave it as a one-shot. I'm still on hiatus, but continue to let me know if you want to see more of this (or see more of my other two options for continuation: Vice or The Great Galactic War) so that when I officially emerge from hiatus, I can jump right in!**

 **Enjoy this chapter 2.**

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After rounding up the kidnapped children, Nishinoya and Shouyou brought them to Nekoma Village to be placed in the temporary care of the local police chief. Despite the region's reputation for lawlessness, there were police in the scattered townships of rural northern Japan, but being far from the administrative centers, these police forces were overworked and understaffed. The lack of scrutiny also bred corruption, making things worse in some areas.

Even so, Nishinoya vouched that the head police officer in Nekoma, Yaku Morisuke, was an honorable guy, someone he had trained with at the Azumane Dojo in Tokyo. Yaku promised to get the children back to their families, dispensed Iwaizumi's bounty, and, as an added bonus, offered a tip on some disappearances in a neighboring municipality.

Now Nishinoya and the Crow ventured silently down the road to the adjacent district. Neither had discussed working together, but neither seemed apt to reject the idea either. Quietly, they were both glad to have found someone of decent moral character—or maybe they were each just glad they had met someone they can _trust_.

A few minutes out of town, Noya removed the moneybag with the collected bounty from inside his kimono and flipped it to Shouyou.

"Here. You deserve it."

Hinata's eyes bulged.

"What? No! Those kids'll get home much faster than I could have. _You_ deserve it."

"But you found Iwaizumi first."

"But he _beat_ me. I would have died if you hadn't appeared."

"I could say the same if you hadn't stabbed him when you did."

"Yeah, you're right," he said, stuffing the bag in his kimono. For an unknown reason, Noya felt slightly annoyed that he'd won/lost the argument. He peered at his unspoken comrade and realized he knew nothing about him except his name and lineage. Why would someone barely an adult be a vigilante targeting human traffickers?

That put Noya in mind of Shouyou's peculiar behavior after they left the cave. Not only did the boy insist on locating every single one of the kids, but he seemed to scrutinize all of them as if hoping to recognize one.

"So, um, I noticed you were intent on finding all the children," Noya asked out of nowhere. Shouyou shot him a skeptical look but soon decided he had nothing to fear in being honest.

"Oh, yeah. I'm looking for my brother Natsu," he said matter-of-factly. Noya's gaze widened.

The Hinata family was a renowned samurai clan in the ancient past but in recent generations had largely kept to itself in the woods near Yukigaoka Village. That was until 18 months ago when a massive fire gutted their residence and, until now, was thought to have left no survivors. Noya was intrigued. Shouyou just revealed not one member of the family was alive but two.

"He was kidnapped, huh?" he guessed. Then a thought occurred to him. If Shouyou had been searching for his brother since the fire, did that mean the kidnapping and the fire were related? "Wait. So the fire was intentional?"

Shouyou made no reply, as if the question touched a sore spot. Noya quickly diverted his line of questioning.

"Do you know who kidnapped him?"

"The Little Giant," the Crow said. Noya stopped dead in his tracks.

"You _saw_ the Little Giant?" he inquired with a mixture of awe and pity.

"Yeah," Shouyou halted as well, trying to restrain his emotions. "He killed my dad and my mom and took Natsu." His face contorted with rage as the veins of his hand bulged from the fist he made. "I'm going to find Natsu and make the Little Giant pay."

Noya's heart sank. Yet another person hurt by the Little Giant. There were few witnesses who encountered the notorious kidnapper. Starting about three years ago and for 18 months straight, he was active almost nightly and plunged the scattered villages into a climate of fear for their children.

For most of the Little Giant's reign of terror, Nishinoya was living as a hermit, venturing only occasionally into town. It was during an evening visit to the village of Chidoriyama that he encountered the legendary felon with his latest prey unconscious over his shoulder. Despite having left that career behind, his police officer past prevented him from ignoring what was happening. His intervention saved a child that night, but it locked him in a duel with the adroit swordsman. Noya found his foe his combat equal.

Unfortunately, Noya had been out of practice for a year and a half. Eventually, he lost his sword and found himself flat on his back, the Little Giant's katana poised to pierce his throat. Noya prayed for a quick death.

But instead, the Little Giant departed silently, vanishing into the dusk foliage.

Noya never understood why he was given a second chance at life. He subsequently abandoned his year-and-a-half long eremitic existence and became the bounty hunter he was now. Part of him wanted to ask the criminal why he had been pitied.

But stranger still, after that night, the Little Giant's crime spree suddenly ended. Two days later, Nishinoya recalled hearing of the tragedy at the Hinata estate, since Yukigaoka was the next village from Chidoriyama. The conflagration happened the night after his duel with the Little Giant, he now recollected.

Suddenly it clicked in Noya's mind. For the last year and a half, he believed himself to have been the last person to see the Little Giant. But in reality, the last sighting was by the boy he was now speaking to, Hinata Shouyou.

A curious detail, but nevertheless, Noya found himself wanting to mock the 19-year-old's quest. He himself forsook the idea of seeing the Little Giant again since there were no leads on his whereabouts. Shouyou was wasting his time harboring such a grudge, and Nishinoya—if only to justify his own apathy—wanted to make sure the Crow knew it.

"You know he hasn't been seen in 18 months, right?"

"I don't care. I _will_ find him," Shouyou stomped. He had heard this spiel before from anyone of whom he asked information.

"How?" Noya skeptically questioned. Immediately Shouyou dug inside his kimono and withdrew a small object in his fist.

"Because I have something that belongs to him." Shouyou remembered that Noya was a member of the police. He had shown this object to various peoples in his travels to no avail, but perhaps Nishinoya could identify the item.

That night 18 months ago, the Little Giant was intercepted in his kidnapping attempt by Shouyou's father, Hinata Taiyou—a retired mercenary who was the stuff of legend: some said that whatever his sword slashed burst into flames.

The legend wasn't true that night. During the fight, a lantern fell and eventually engulfed the house in fire. Falling debris struck the 11-year-old Natsu on the head. Taiyou rushed to protect him, only to be slashed in the back by his opponent. Shouyou's mother ran to the boy and was also cut down, falling atop her husband.

Shouyou, petrified to death, witnessed it all through his slightly parted bedroom door. He was too afraid to do anything. Ever since, he wondered if he could have saved his father and mother, if things would have been different had he intervened sooner.

Alas, he took no action until the intruder approached Natsu, rendered unconscious by the debris. At last Shouyou burst from his room and swung his training sword at the villain. Surprised, the Little Giant had almost no time to dodge—but he just barely did. In one swoop, the Little Giant cut Shouyou across the chest, the latter's swing missing its target's flesh, but the tip of his blade slitting the moneybag tied to the Little Giant's waist.

"I slashed his moneybag," Shouyou explained to Noya, "and everything spilled into the flames, but one thing landed by me. I assumed it was money, but it's not, and no one will tell me what it is." He tossed the object to Noya, hoping the man wouldn't mock him like those who recognized the object's origins always did.

As soon as Noya laid eyes on the item, he shook. It was a square, carefully sanded, and varnished block of very light brown, almost cream-colored, wood, about one inch by one inch with rounded edges. On its top, so meticulously carved it looked like it had been embossed, was the shape of a letter "S."

"You know it?" Shouyou asked, noticing the man's astonishment.

"It's a gambling chip," Noya gulped, "like you use in casinos. It comes from a place in Karasuno Town." He flipped the wooden piece back to Shouyou.

The boy's eyes sparkled. At last, he had a lead.

"So the guy who runs this casino might know where Natsu is?!" He seemed nearly elated, and it made Nishinoya grimace.

"Maybe. But trust me. You don't want to go there."

"I don't care!" protested Hinata. "I will find the Little Giant and make him tell me where he took Natsu. I don't care how hard it is or how long it takes. I remember everything about him: his jet black hair; his cold gray eyes; his sword with a hilt as green as the forest; the black tattoo on his wrist—everything. I've never forgotten him, and I never will until I make him suffer!"

 _Cold gray eyes_. Even the memory sent chills down Shouyou's spine. From the moment Shouyou saw him, the Little Giant bore an unmitigated focus on taking Natsu, and everything—including cutting down his parents—was solely in pursuit of that goal. His expression never faltered.

Except once. After picking up the unconscious Natsu, the man glared at the wounded Shouyou. Shouyou knew instantly the man could see he was still alive. But the look on his face in that final moment was not the same irresistible lust shown until then.

It was a look of deep-seated regret.

As Shouyou relived the haunting exchange once more, Nishinoya, however, was struck by a different detail in the Crow's description.

"Did you say he had a tattoo on his wrist? Do you remember what it looked like?" he nervously asked, having a gut feeling what the tattoo might have looked like.

Hinata pondered momentarily before demonstrating by tracing the symbol on the underside of his left wrist as he described it: a full circle, a line about two-thirds up the circle nearer the hand, and a serpentine line leading from the center of the intersecting line following the main vein but terminating in a point before touching the encapsulating circumference. One could have described the symbol formed inside the circle as a wavy letter "T." What immediately astounded Noya was not only that the symbol was what he predicted but that Hinata had described it exactly how Noya visualized it. The boy wasn't exaggerating when he said he remembered everything about the Little Giant: he indeed did have excellent eyesight and memory.

"Tell me," Nishinoya asked one more time, now dreading what he might hear. "His sword—did you see any engravings on it?"

Hinata paused again to think, and the image popped into his mind: a single black line near the base of the blade parallel to the hilt, and two diagonal lines shooting away from the hilt from the parallel line. It was like a letter "K." After Shouyou described the symbol, Noya bit his lip warily.

"So _they're_ behind it," he muttered.

"You know who the Little Giant worked for?"

"Yeah," Noya sighed. "Those are the symbols of the Three Kings of Karasuno, the most powerful crime lords in all of Japan."

"So one of them knows where Natsu is?!"

"Maybe. But _no one_ can defeat the Kings."

"I don't care!" Shouyou erupted again. "If they know where the Little Giant is, and if they know where Natsu is, I'll _make_ them talk! And if they had anything to do with it, I'll kill them!"

"Go ahead and try," Nishinoya scoffed. "The Kings are untouchable. Give up now."

Shouyou growled. Up until this point, he'd admired the shorter man's ethics, but this newfound squeamishness was more than he could stomach. In fact, for an officer of the peace, Yuu's sidelong attitude towards the crimes of these so-called Kings was despicable.

"I thought you were a cop! Why don't you arrest them?!" Shouyou's reaction touched a nerve in Noya's heart.

"I _used_ to be a cop," Nishinoya barked. "And I _tried_ to take down the Kings. And I _failed_. And that's all you need to know."

Yup, for Shouyou, Nishinoya Yuu was like every other supposed cop he'd run into, willing to overlook any transgression that he didn't feel like pursuing. It was the very reason the region was in the state it was.

"I don't need to listen to a coward like you," Hinata grumbled. "It's because of people like you that guys like Iwaizumi and these Kings get away with whatever they want! If the police won't stop them, _I_ will!"

He left no opportunity for a rebuttal as he proceeded to march down the trail, bound for Karasuno Town. He would not look back. Shouyou had no need for people who turned a blind eye to wicked men.

Left behind, Noya finally exhaled a relaxing sigh. The boy was a talented swordfighter—there was no mistaking that—but if he were to embark on this quest, one beyond human capability, he was certainly destined to die. Noya wanted to do something to stop him, to save him from throwing away his life so fruitlessly.

To save him from a fate worse than his own, he realized.

But more so, he found himself jealous—jealous of the lad's unequivocal dedication to what was right. He dearly wished he could regain that feeling himself.

* * *

Hinata Shouyou was only a few minutes down the rugged path when he sensed a figure gaining behind him. It was not a threatening approach, so he paid it no mind; in fact, he was sure who it was without turning around. He only acknowledged the pursuer when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Shouyou," Noya announced. Hinata beheld the man who paused to catch his breath.

"What?" he haughtily asked.

"If you're going to Karasuno Town, I'll help you," Noya stated. "You're a good swordsman, like your father, but that will only get you so far against the Kings. You can't defeat them on your own, and neither can I. But maybe…" he inhaled deeply, "maybe together, we have a chance." Noya didn't know what reaction he hoped from the boy. Mockery, nonchalance, or rejection seemed the most likely. But instead, he was confronted by an enormous, endearing smile.

"All right!" Shouyou jubilantly cheered. Noya's lip twitched.

"Um, you seem excited."

"Well," Hinata grinned, "it's just cool to be fighting alongside someone shorter than me."

"What did you say?!" exploded Noya. "I'm not _that_ much shorter!" Hinata didn't seem fazed by the abrupt reaction, too enthused to have a partner.

"Noya, how are we going to make the Kings tell us where the Little Giant is?"

Nishinoya exhaled. "Yeah, I was thinking about that, and I've got a plan, starting with that chip. I'll explain on the way. But first…." Hinata had already started marching but froze when Nishinoya paused. His face was terribly grim. "I need to be clear: if we are going to challenge the Kings, there is a very high likelihood we are going to die."

* * *

 **I don't write a lot of gender swaps, but I had to write Natsu as a boy for plot reasons. There won't be any other swaps, I promise. And besides, thanks to a certain other franchise featuring a boy with pink hair, I don't think anyone can say "Natsu" doesn't pass for a male name too** **. (And if people tell me they _really_ don't like it and that's the thing that will stop them from reading this fic, then I might retool the plot if I continue this fic long-term). Also don't forget to check out The Great Galactic War and Vice as well! See you when my hiatus "officially" ends.**


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